Huntsman intends to meet Monday with members of the Committee of Consumer Services. The discussions will be his first with the utility watchdog group since he abruptly fired its longtime director, Roger Ball, four weeks ago.

The governor plans to meet with the six committee members individually or in small groups, enabling him to get around Utah Open and Public Meetings Act requirements that "public bodies" such as the committee hold open meetings anytime a quorum of its members is present, even if the gathering is held in the Governor's Office.

Huntsman spokeswoman Tammy Kikuchi insisted the governor decided to hold the closed-door meetings because of "scheduling difficulties," not because he wants to keep his dealings with the committee members secret.

"The governor can choose to meet with the committee however he wants," Kikuchi said.

Five of the six committee members, though, said they had no scheduling conflicts. Several said the governor's staff told them their meetings were scheduled specifically so Huntsman could get around the open meetings law.

"There was some provision of the open meeting requirements they wanted to avoid," committee member Kelly Casaday said.

Committee member Betsy Wolf said she may have a scheduling conflict, but even without that, is unsure whether she should attend a closed-door meeting with Huntsman.

"It bothers me that the meetings are going to be closed," Wolf said.

"A lot of the value of holding open meetings is that members can deliberate and discuss the issues. If the meetings are closed, and we're not all together, that isn't going to happen."

Nevertheless, Wolf said she is torn between staying away and attending.

"I've asked the advice of a couple of attorneys on whether I should even go," she said. "Their advice is I'd be crazy not to attend and find out what is on the governor's mind."

Huntsman's possible end run around the state's open meeting law may be legal, but it certainly isn't ethical, said Anthony Musci, Utah chairman of Common Cause, an organization that lobbies for ethics in government.

The law is meant to foster openness in government, and for Huntsman to use a technicality to get around the provisions is disingenuous, Musci said.

"This is really discouraging," he said. "During his campaign, Huntsman found ethics in government a convenient place to hang his hat. Now that he is governor we're finding if it is convenient, he'll put his ethics aside."

Huntsman fired Ball after his transition team reported the longtime consumer services director fought too aggressively to keep utility rates low for consumers. And while he later thanked Ball for his service, he only gave Ball 30 minutes to clear out his desk before he was escorted out of the Heber Wells building in downtown Salt Lake City.

The governor said he wants a director who is more "fair and balanced" in dealing with the state's utilities. He named Lesley Reberg, a former utility lobbyist and US West employee, as his choice to fill the vacant director's spot.

One of Reberg's primary accomplishments in the utility arena to date is that she helped push a piece of legislation through the 2000 Legislature that consumer advocates say protected US West's revenue at its customers' expense.

Committee Chairman Dee Jay Hammon speculated the governor may want to use the meetings to lobby committee members on Reberg's behalf. Under state law, the committee must consent to the governor's choice of director.

"I'm not going to prejudge him, though," Hammon said. "But it is my plan that we have more than one choice to consider for the director's position."

Open or closed?

What the Utah Open and Public Meetings Act does: It requires that governmental policy-making or advisory bodies on the local and state level conduct their business in meetings open to the public. Meetings are considered public whenever a quorum of members is present.

Meetings can only be closed for eight reasons:

l 1. Discussion of the character, professional competence or physical or mental health of an individual.

l 2. Strategy sessions related to collective bargaining.

l 3. Strategy sessions related to litigation.

l 4. Strategy sessions related to the purchase, exchange or lease of property.

l 5. Strategy sessions related to the sale of property.

l 6. Discussion of the deployment of security personnel or devices.

l 7. Investigative proceedings regarding allegations of criminal misconduct.

l 8. Discussion of private, commercial property tax information.